Santa Ana, Santa Cruz, Bolivia

We show up in the little town of Santa Ana on the Jesuit Mission circuit - and there is no one in sight. The dry, dusty plaza is deserted except for four donkeys.

Thankfully we had a guide, so he left us on the front steps of the church and went off to find the "man with the key". Definitely a benefit for paying for a "tour".

Armed with the key we enter the church to see bats flying around. Dark, dank catholic church. Exactly what you would expect in what appears to be a ghost town.

We take a few pictures and then head up to see the organ. Apparently this is the original organ of the church. Four hundred years old! The key man sits down and starts to play for us. It was awesome.

Another Angel Sent From Heaven...

Came home from work yesterday while my maid was still at the house. (yeah, yeah, I know I have a maid) Well she only speaks Spanish and only at super high speed so Laura and I were straining to understand what she was saying when she kept repeating perro, perro. Well since perros are my favorite animal I know that that means dog and what the hell is she talking about a dog for? Well apparently a puppy had been in our backyard for two days and we had no idea (it's been raining so no reason to hang out by the pool in the back). We walk outside and see this...

Are you kidding me? A scrawny, mite ridden muttface puppy! Oh my she is the cutest thing I've ever seen! Laura and I run in the house to hunt for some food for the puppy. I fry up a chicken burger and bring it to her and she gobbles it up in two seconds. I ran to the neighbors house to ask for some dog food...

Can you see those mites on her ears? Both ears were FILLED with mites and ticks that were so gorged with blood that they were HUGE! Oh, gross! But, she is so cute I have to give her lots of love.

After feeding and playing with her for a few hours it started to rain and thunder and lightening. Hey, I know! I'll get my $300 FedEx box and make a little house for the puppy. I got her a towel and set her up for the night. I woke up this morning to find this...

I do want to keep her. She is the sweetest thing. It's just not a good time. I know, I know, life doesn't think about timing, but I have a month of traveling planned for xmas break and then this summer I'll be traveling for 9 weeks. What would I do with a doggie. Yes, the thought crossed my mind to bring her to Jane and Larry, but I know that Larry would kill me! Sooo, I called a friend from school and we took her to the vet. The vet is going to clean her up and take care of her and he really thinks a family will adopt her. We're going to call in a week to check to see if she's been adopted. Keep your fingers crossed!

Speaking of Crack??!!

I don't know if you ever read Laura's blogpost about shopping at the Hypermaxi (from 13 September), but not only is it super funny, we've got something to add...

One of my favorite things about living in 3rd world country is going to the grocery store. I love it back home in the States too. I am a sucker for packaging and if something says "New" I've got to try it (even if it's the same old crap with just new packaging).

So we're at the Hypermaxi and I was looking up and down the candy isle and all of a sudden I see this ....